The Hawkeye football season gets underway for real on Saturday afternoon and the countdown for Iowa fans is well under way. In our coverage heading up to the kickoff against Northern Illinois, we wondered who the ten most important players are on the Iowa roster for 2007? Who are the players that have to come up big and have to stay healthy? Find out our list right here.

It's always tough to put together a list of the top ten most important players from any football roster. There is really no right or wrong answer and certainly plenty of debate. With that in mind, once you read through the list, please head to the Hawkeye Lounge and give us your list of the top ten most important players.

We will go in reverse order, starting with the tenth position and ending, obviously with #1.

10. Austin Signor - While Coach Ferentz continues to say that there is an open competition at place kicker, it appears that this is Signor's job at this point. Last season, Kyle Schlicher was 13-20 in field goal attempts, which is a 65% rate. Signor was perfect in his only two field goal opportunities. Iowa's FG conversion rate needs to be at 70% or better this year and perhaps just as important, their kickoff's need to be high and deep. Signor will get the job and it will be important for him to knock home the field goal opportunities and also help the special teams kick coverage with his kickoff's.

9. Rafael Eubanks - There has been plenty of discussion thus far during camp about the importance of the play of the offensive line and it will all start with Eubanks. Last year he earned the starting job at center, but was slowed by an ankle injury at times. Last year he was surrounded by two seniors at guard. This time around, he will likely have two players on each side who will be starting their first game as Hawkeyes. Adding to this is the fact that Rob Bruggeman will likely be out until at least mid-season and that Eubanks will be making the line calls, his health and maturity will be critical.

8. Devan Moylan -It might be surprising to see Moylan on this list, but when you look at the depth chart, he is the only safety on the roster to start a game for the Hawkeyes. Getting Moylan back for an extra year was very important because he knows the system at Iowa and will provide senior leadership at the position. There are certainly several talented players at safety, but they are pretty green when it comes to experience on the field. Moylan is coming back from a pretty significant injury last season and says he will be 100% by the start of the season. Hopefully, he will stay that way throughout the season.